Qualcomm cruises past analysts' earnings expectations on strength of phone sales

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FILE- In this Jan. 9, 2019, file photo a sign advertises 5G at the Qualcomm booth at CES International in Las Vegas. 5G is a new technical standard for wireless networks that promises faster speeds; less lag, or “latency,” when connecting to the network; and the ability to connect many devices to the internet without bogging it down. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Qualcomm reported Q2 earnings after the bell on Wednesday, easily surpassing analysts' expectations. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Qualcomm (QCOM) on Wednesday announced its Q2 2021 earnings after the closing bell, blowing away analysts' expectations for the chip maker, with revenue jumping 52% year-over-year.

The company's stock was up over 7% in after-hours trading following the earnings report.

Here are the most important numbers from the report compared with what Wall Street was expecting.

  • Revenue: $7.9 billion versus $7.6 billion expected

  • Earnings per share: $1.90 versus $1.67 expected

"It was a very strong quarter," outgoing Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf told Yahoo Finance. "You're seeing a stronger market reflected through our licensing revenues; you're also seeing a stronger mix in the product business."

Qualcomm's various segments, Handsets; RF front-end; Automotive; and IoT [Internet of Things], each saw double-digit, year-over-year growth. Its IoT business, in particular, saw its second consecutive quarter of more than $1 billion in revenue, and 71% year-over-year growth.

In its handset business, Qualcomm is forecasting it will see 450 million to 550 million 5G phones shipped in 2021.

Of course, hanging over the broader economy is the ongoing global semiconductor shortage. Qualcomm's incoming CEO and current President Cristiano Amon told Yahoo Finance that the company has been taking active steps to mitigate the worst of the shortage.

"We have been very active in terms of capacity planning, putting actions in place to build more capacity within our supply chain, we have multi-sourcing, designing products, making use of the supply that's available, and we now have line of sight to material improvements in supply across many products towards the end of this calendar year," Amon explained.

At the moment, however, the need for chips continues to outstrip available units, though Amon sees that as a positive for Qualcomm.

Despite the semiconductor crisis, Amon said Qualcomm was able to use its existing stock of chips to service its high value products and customers.

"You see that in the results with a very favorable product mix for Qualcomm both in results we have right now and how we think about the coming quarter," he added.

Amon's comments run counter to Intel (INTC) CEO Pat Gelsinger's own statements regarding the chip shortage, which he said could last until 2022.

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